Monster to Monster
by tehddy
Summary: What does Doctor Whale do when sent back to The Land Without Colour, and what will he do to get back to the one he loves? Post "No Place Like Home" AU.


"Who are you, and where did you come from?"

The gun in Victor's face tells him that his answer is required, but his memory is scattered. He stammers to steal himself time to remember. "I... I'm-"

The last thing he remembers is the purple fog- No. No, the last thing he remembers is Ruby, and the way his heart felt like it would explode when she disappeared. She was to be sent back to where she came from. And he... Would be here. "Home". The Land Without Colour. He had to find a way back to her.

"Speak!"

"Doct-! ...Victor," He considers using his full name, but when he recalls the legacy he left in this land... "Victor Whale. Doctor Victor Whale." It wasn't a lie, but it still felt like it. He had been Doctor Whale for twenty eight years, but not in this land. Here he was Victor Frankenstein. The gun adjusted, and the voice came again; brash and female, "Where did you come from?"

Another world. Storybrooke. A place far from here. She wouldn't believe it - he didn't believe it when Rumplestiltskin first appeared in his lab. Not until he saw The Enchanted Forest for himself. What could he tell her? He looked around at the building for clues, and found it all familiar. _It was his home._ Busted and broken, vandalized beyond much repair. The word _monster_ was painted on one wall. It would have cut deeper before he had met Ruby. What it did do, was explain why he'd been brought back here, to this very spot. This was his home. He couldn't say that, though. People here clearly weren't fans of his work.

"I thought it was empty. I didn't see light, I-I- Just needed shelter."

"From what?"

"From the same thing you carry that revolver for."

She laughs at this, and the gun lowers. She's pleased with his answer. She offers him a hand, and he accepts the help up. "Evangeline," She tells him, and he assumes that it's her name. He nods and straightens his coat, realizing for the first time he's wearing his old wardrobe. Doctor Whale of Storybrooke really was gone. "And what, precisely, are _you_ doing here, Miss Evangeline?"

"Hunti-" Her word is cut off by a loud crash as the ceiling breaks above them. Evangeline dives out of the way, barely avoiding being crushed by the falling wood. He thinks about the damage to his home for a moment, but forgets about it as soon as a hulking mass rises out of the wood, as a gutteral growl rises from _it_: Black fur and white maw _familiar_. Evangeline doesn't hesitate in pulling her gun, ready to fire, but only one thing runs through Victor's mind_: Ruby_.

_"Maybe Regina's spell will send _everyone_ to The Enchanted Forest," Ruby shrugged, sitting on his desk and sipping coffee. One knee was pulled up against her chest, and her boots were leaving mud on patient files. They didn't matter, he wouldn't be here much longer. And even if they did matter, he wouldn't chastise her. He loved those muddy boots. He snaked out a hand for her's, her palm warm from cradling the coffee. "She said home," He recites his fears, "That we would all be sent home."_

_"Maybe it's a metaphorical home, like... Here," She holds his hand to her chest, her heartbeat flutters over his palm and he closes his eyes to memorize everything he feels, "Our home is together." The tearful lilt in her voice gives away how little she believes her own words. It's just hope. _False_ hope. The worst thing a person can have, and yet he couldn't help but cherish it. _

_He leaned forward and caught her lips in a kiss he wished would break this curse. Why couldn't it? This was true love. It had to be. Their noses pressed against cheeks and felt the wetness of tears on one another, but they didn't say a word. They understood; they just melded into one another, hands exploring, memorizing the curves of backs, and bows of shoulders. They kissed until lips were numb, kissed until the breaking of the office windows broke their kiss. _

_The purple smoke drifted in, and they both knew the touch wouldn't last... But he would make a promise: "I'll find you."_

_"What?"_

_"I'll find you. I won't stop until I find a way to The Enchanted Forest. If Rumplestiltskin, and Emma, and who knows how many others can cross worlds... So can I. And I will. Monster to monster, I promise you."_

_The next words she spoke didn't have time to reach his ears before Evangeline's gun was in his face._

He's back in the moment. The woman with her revolver, and the growling monster. The familiar monster. The wolf. _Ruby_.

He dives at Evangeline, knocking her off her feet as she pulls the trigger. The bullet hits the roof and blasts through more wood. The beast cringes at where the glinting bullet flies, growls at the two, and runs off, crashing out through a window.

Evangeline pushes Victor off as a howl rings through the street. She dashes to the window and stops, aiming her gun through it. Victor watches as she follows it, and winces as the shot rings out... But when Evangeline curses, he knows she missed.

He turns to hide at this success, but she grasps the back of his coat and throws him against the wall - "Why would you do that?!" She pins him with a pointed forearm, "Why did you stop me?!"

He thinks fast: "It's a werewolf! Bullets wouldn't kill it!"

She yells out in frustration and lets go of him, opening up her gun and pulling a bullet from it. She holds it in front of his face, "Do you see this?! Silver. You think I'm some kind of amateur?" She gives him a shove and runs a hand through her stringy hair. She mumbles to herself about his stupidity and he uses the moment to think. If werewolves existed here _and_ in The Enchanted Forest, it could lead him to Ruby. Unless she had already found him. Perhaps she was right about their hearts? "...I'll help you track it."

"Why would I want your help?"

"I've studied them. Werewolves," It's not _really_ a lie... He had definitely studied Ruby a time or two... Just not as a scientist, "I'll help you find it."

Evangeline thinks about this, spinning the revolver on the gun absently as she looks out the broken window. No one had come to investigate the sound; they already knew what had caused it. The revolver snaps into place just as Evangeline makes her decision, "Fine."

_Monster to monster, I promise I'll find you, Ruby._


End file.
